Puyallup's JaiCieonna Gero-Holt wins B1G Ten heptathlon title...
Going into day 2 with 3767 points in her back pocket, Gero-Holt started the day by long jumping 18-11.25 (5.77m), good for a third place finish. In the javelin, she threw a personal best 134-5 (40.97m), also good for a third place finish.
Gero-Holt only maintained a 95 point lead over Oregon's Liisa-Marie Lusti, who had a better personal best in the 800, needed to stay close to Lusti to seal the win.
In the 800, Lusti ran 2:23.32 to Gero-Holt's 2:24.68 to cut the deficit down to 77 points, not enough to get the win.
Gero-Holt finished with a personal best score of 5994 points, with Lusti second with 5917.
Washington's Sofia Coscullela, the collegiate leader in the heptathlon, who did not contest the event, finished third in the long jump with a personal best of 21-1.5 (6.44m) going into a -3.2 meter per second headwind, as Celine Brown of Rutgers won with a best of 21-3.25 (6.48m).
It's also a Washington school record, eclipsing the previous school record of 21-0 (6.40m) set by Meledy Smith in 1984.
Cates started with a time of 15.70 in the 110 hurdles, well off his best time of 15.27. In the discus, he rallied from his hurdle race and threw a personal best 142-0 (43.29m) to finish third.
In the pole vault, he cleared a personal best 15-9 (4.80m) to win the event, then turned around to throw yet another personal best of 147-5 (44.95m) in the javelin.
He notched yet another personal best in the 1500, running 4:55.12 to finish the two days of competition with a final score of 7632 points, to move into eighth on the UW all-time top ten list.
Luuk Pelkmans of Illinois completed the sweep of the B1G Ten combined events with Gero-Holt, winning the decathlon with a final score of 8004 points.
The Huskies' Issac Briggs finished third in the steeplechase, running a time of 8:50.98, while teammate Cruize Corvin was seventh in a time of 8:57.56.
The combination of windy and muggy temperatures, which reached into the high 80s, may have played a factor in the times, as defending champion Ben Balazs of Oregon won in a modest time of 8:49.02.
MOVING ON TO SUNDAY...
In qualifying, the Huskies' advanced Chloe Foerster (2:02.59) and Chloe Symon (2:02.61) to the finals in the women's 800. Foerster won her heat, while Symon ran a personal best as a time qualifier.
For Symon, it's also a Canadian national under-20 record. set in 1973 by Glenda Reiser. The previous Canadian U20 record was 2:03.17.
Before the finals of the long jump, Sofia Cosculluela ran 13.42 in the 100 hurdles to advance to the finals, as she finished fifth in her heat. In the same heat, former Washington State All-American Micaela De Mello, now competing for Oregon, was second in 13.02.
Alex Rhodes ran the third fastest qualifying time in the men's 400, running 45.34 to easily win his heat.
Martin Barco earned the final time qualifier in the 800, as the Indiana native ran a personal best 1:46.69 to take second in his heat.
After nine events, the Washington women, who were boosted by three wins Friday, stand second behind Illinois, who have 73 points. The Huskies enter Sunday with 66 points, with Minnesota third at 48. Nebraska is fourth with 46, and Michigan State and Oregon stands fifth with 19 points.
The Husky men go into Sunday in fifth place with 25 points after seven of 21 events. Oregon leads with 55, followed by Minnesota at 41, USC with 30, and host Nebraska at 28.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the B1G Ten Conference, Nebraska, Illinois, and Washington contributed to this report.
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